Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners mx500 remote vs harmony remotes

have been considering either remote. i do realize there is a price difference between the two. the harmony seems like it's upgradable by connecting to their site (for codes), but require a usb port on a pc. my older dell laptop does not have a usb port. harmony tells me it's easily obtainable, but i know zip about them, and it also adds to the bottom line. i also read where several people use a ratshack universal remote too. looking for plain english suggestions not being terribly computer literate. and, i would rather suggestions from this board rather from someone pushing product.
thanks
dan

I also seriously considered those 2. The MX500 is at Costco for $99 and the Harmony is online for ~$270.

Here's my 2 cents. I have a Pio 45TX, Proscan VCR, Apex 600A DVD, Sony SAT-T60, and Zenith 27" tube. I'm running it w/ a M22's, VP150, QS8's and VTF-2 (not that the speakers matter here, just bragging...)

MX500 - I have some unreasonable bias against this, probably because my in-laws have this at their house and it's not configured intuititively. BTW, their HT consultant did it, not me... I also use by Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV/Tivo a lot, and the MX500 didn't (for me) seem intuitive for Tivo. Others love it, I don't.

Harmony SST-768 - I played w/ their online demo and like the concept of their remote. It's functional based, not button based. Different concept but seems to implement macros w/o having to be aware of how to do it. The web-based programming looks cool and much easier than having to "learn" each button. I almost got this, and looked for authorized sites, so I could have the warranty. Didn't see any cheap ones on ebay, those that were for sale were almost the same price new.

Now I say I almost got this. Almost because shortly before I was going to buy the Harmony, my 1 year old dropped my new 45TX remote and the top half of the display doesn't come up. A curious 1 year old and a $270 remote don't mix well. So I went to Circuit City and bought a $18 One for All Remote (6131) that has PVR functions built in. If she drops it, I can buy a new one...

If I ever do buy universal, I will buy the Harmony.

Which one are you looking at? They just released a new one which is similar in form factor to the TiVo remotes (the best remote I've ever used) and similar in function to the Marantz RC2000 type. It doesn't have the wheel thing that the 768 and 748 have, but other than that it looks pretty cool. It's also $100 cheaper than the 768.

At $270, there's nothing better than the Pronto TSU-3000. It still has a few quirks, but it's absolutely the best remote I've ever owned.

http://www.remotecentral.com/tsu3000/index.html

OK, here's an bad example of a compulsive gadget addict. After writing this, I went to ebay and saw a 768 in box for $140, closing today. Got it for $150+ shipping. I also noticed the new "Family" remote which is more button focused, w/ no wheel for $199. Also looks good for the non-techies in the house. I'll play around w/ the Harmony and post feedback if others are interested.

Yes please! If you have a TiVo, I'm especially looking for feedback on that.

I have the MX-500 and love it. Everything in my HT is set up in a macro that my wife and children can use. So far no complaints.
It was very intuitive to program. If I find a function that is not on the remote already I take 15 sec and program it in. I went from 5 remotes to 1.
I do not have tivo, I have a DVR from Comcast. The MX-500 works better than the remote that came with the box. I will not be in the market for a remote until they come up with something that attaches to your brain...That is a little creepy, so maybe not...Just my .02

just started looking at both, the mx500 was suggested here. may be a while, just bought a new dvd and cd player. need to allow the cash level to rise again. my rxv1300 remote works for the display, dvd, vcr, and avr, but when i program it for the yammi cd player, during set up it's okay until i leave the programming mode. it also will not power up the cd player, neither will the cd player's remote. bummer, figured with a yammi avr, its remote was a sure bet. one more reason to stay away from casinos.
dan

yikes, that's more than i paid for the cd player and dvd player (each).

While I've got a JP1 Radio shack remote that I can program from my PC, it's not intuitive for non advanced PC users. I much prefer real buttons to touch screens like the pronto. I watch my TV in the dark and don't want to be looking at a remote to do stuff. That being said, the MX-500 seems to be the choice for functionality and price in many of the audio-video forums.

I'd get one but have a back up rat shack JP1 remote when my current one dies.

Frank

It's significantly less than I spent for my DVD player.

In reply to:

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While I've got a JP1 Radio shack remote that I can program from my PC, it's not intuitive for non advanced PC users.

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Which is why I like the Pronto. I've defined every inch of the interface to be perfectly usable by all the morons that come into my home.

In reply to:

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I much prefer real buttons to touch screens like the pronto. I watch my TV in the dark and don't want to be looking at a remote to do stuff.

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Which is why I went with the TSU-3000 over the 2000 or the 6000. It has 20 hard buttons.

OK, so I've had the Harmony 768 remote since last Sat. The components I control are:

old 27" Zenith as a monitor only
Pioneer 45TX A/V
Apex AD-600A DVD player
Proscan VCR
Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV

Initial Setup
I've played w/ the online tutorial and it seemed pretty easy to set up. You go to their website to configure your remote according to your components and then your remote is updated w/ the configration. I installed the software from the CD and tried to download to the remote but the firmware and s/w needed to be updated, which I did relatively easily. Now I can go to my online account and add/remove activities and devices and just connect the remote to my PC to update.

Impressions
Different. Not bad, not IMPRESSIVE, different. I'm used to hard buttons, I also use the URC6131 that is GREAT w/ Tivo. 2nd only to the Tivo remote which I think is one of the best ergonomic remotes. The Harmony is different because it's activity based, not button based, so for me it's a "culture change". You don't press buttons/macros, you choose an activity and it runs. To watch Tivo, I select the "Watch Tivo" activity and the system (1) turns on the TV, (2) turns on the A/V, (3) sets up the surround mode on the Pioneer, (4) turns on the Tivo, and (5) set the channel to my favorite channel. I have activities to watch the VCR, listen to the radio, watch DVDs, etc and all the macros are set up to control any required component.

The setup is "relatively" flexible because you and add menus, activites, reassign buttons, create macros, etc. You can also edit existing activities to add more "button presses" to it, which is what I did to set up different surround modes for each activity. For example, when listening to the radio, I set it to 5 channel stereo. I say relatively because it also allows you the ability to use XML to add/modify the actions of the remote. Almost too flexible, because most users may not want to deal w/ the hassle. But when playing w/ the remote, it may be worth the hassle because you can create your own complicated macro once you learn the method.

I haven't let my wife play w/ it yet, I want to get it close to perfect so I can get the best acceptance. But my initial impression is that this is a VERY powerful remote, provided you are willing to do some tweaking. I get the impression that would also be the case w/ the MX500 & MX700 too. The activity based concept may work better, though, w/ the others in your family who don't want to press all the buttons on various remotes.

Regarding Tivo, that's been the toughest to set up. For existing PVR owners, you realize the importance of all the hard buttons. The 768 doesn't have quite enough, but it's possible to configure it to access just the right amount and then also create single button macros to assist w/ the menu searching. The newer 659 may work better for those who really like the hard buttons. One nice thing on the 768 (and not on the 659) is the ability to have the TV Guide on the remote, just like the directv guide. Longer downloads, but pretty slick. You select the show according to the current time and the remote selects the correct channel.

Hope this is helpful and perhaps I'll add more as I play w/ it.

As the MX-500 is exactly the same as the MX-700 minus the computer software interface, I could say it's the best remote I've ever used. I have the MX-700 and I am absolutely blown away by its ergonomics and configurability. I didn't even have to give my wife a primer on it once it was programmed, she just picked it up and started using it (though my wife is pretty techy and actually likes my M80ti tower speakers - which makes her uniquely COOL)

The review is here if you are interested:

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/htm_mx-700_1.html

Take away everything having to do with the programming and you still have basically the same remote. I can't speak for the other remote, but I give the MX-500 the 2 thumbs up.

Clint,

I know this is off the subject for this thread, but will there be an upcoming review of the new Yamaha (1400/2400) and/or Pioneer Elite receivers?

I agree with Hawke and can recommend the MX-500,it is a very flexible and powerful (powerful ir) remote.

Not to nitpick Hawke thought, the MX-500 and MX-700 are very similiar but do have differences other than computer software interface. The Mx 700 can control up to 20 devices with 4 pages of LCD screens per device (the 500 has 10 with 2 pages per). Virtually all buttons on the MX700 can be programmed with a macro (with 40 steps). The MX500 has 15 buttons, (power, power off, m1, m2, m3 and the ten lcd buttons) with 20 steps. Having said this, the MX500 is powerful enough to control all but the most elaborate HT setups.

For more remote info try www.remotecentral.com

For a computer interface and hardware for MX-500 try www.irclone.com

Yes. Soon. :-)

Clint, do you own the MX-500? I've looked at this and it seems very capabable and the ergonomics are great. The local store wanted $180 but I saw another thread here that said Costco had it for $99. I need some additonal info before my purchase and would like to hear more about your experience with this remote.

Thanks,

Bob